Evaluation in the Extreme: Research, Impact and Politics in Violently Divided Societies

An exploration of the ways in which research, power and politics interact in violently divided societies

Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the funding of research in and on violently divided societies. But how do we know whether research makes any difference to these societies—is the impact constructive or destructive? This book is the first to systematically explore this question through a series of case studies written by those on the front lines of applied research. It offers clear and logical ways to understand the positive or negative role that research, or any other aid intervention, might have in developing societies affected by armed conflict, political unrest and/or social violence.

Contents: Preface. I. Introduction. 1. Research, Impact and Politics in Violently Divided Societies: An Evaluative Lens for Small Scale Maps/Kenneth Bush and Colleen Duggan. 2. Fundamental Issues in Evaluation and Research in Violently Divided Societies: An Analysis of the Literature/Philip McDermott, Zahbia Yousuf, Jacqueline Strecker and Ethel Méndez. II. Accountability Ethics and Reflexivity: 3. The Role of Accountability and Evaluation of Research on/in Violently Divided Societies Brendan S. Whitty. 4. The Ethics of Evaluating Research: Views from the Field/Janaka Jayawickrama and Jacqueline Strecker. III. Evaluation, Evidence and Policy: 4. Research within Evaluation: The Case of Northern/Ireland Colin Knox. 5. Evaluation of the Influence of Research on Policy and Practice in a Post-conflict Society: HIV/AIDS Research in South Africa/Kevin Kelly. IV. Roles and Perspectives: 5. Evaluation and Vulnerable Groups: Forgotten Spaces/Sonal Zaveri. 6. Interpreting and Evaluating a Non-profit Organisation in a Divided Society: A Funder’s Perspective/John A Healy and John R Healy. V. Conclusing Thoughts: 7. Building the field of Evaluation in Violently Divided Societies/Katherine Hay. 8. Lessons for Researchers and Evaluators Working ‘in the Extreme’/Colleen Duggan and Kenneth Bush. Bibliography. Index.